Sarah... The most important part of hunting rabbits is gonna be finding a place to hunt them. After that you just shoot at the little buggers until it comes together.
I'm not sure what kind of rabbits you have to chase in your vicinity. I guess there could be snowshoe hares up that way, but will assume your after cottontails.
Cottontails like brush bordered by open grassy areas. You won't find them much in the timber.
Brush piles are likely hiding places as are old junk yards or old buildings/farmsteads.
Anywhere there is hard core security cover for them.
Of course if you have snow to work with, you are ahead of the game. Their tracks and runs will give them away.
As a rabbit runs, he brings his hind feet around and in front of his fronts and pushes off. His track will look like a "Y" with the larger hind feet forming the top of the "Y" widely spaced. The front feet are smaller and placed close together at the bottom of the "Y".
The open end of the "Y" points the direction the rabbit went.
Rabbits have a fairly small home range so once you find one he will most always be close to that area when you come back another time...if you don't get him.
When tracking a rabbit on snow, remember that they will almost always circle when pursued. A good tactic is to leave a person where the rabbit was jumped and have another do the tracking until the rabbit comes back around.
When scouting for "rabbittat" in winter (I made that word up. :D ) look for small saplings, blackberry canes or sumac that have been stripped of bark close to the ground.
You'll probably want to use a broadhead of some sort (a cheap 3 blade works great). Though sharpness isn't as important as with big game, it still helps to keep them sharp for small game.
I hope others will add more tips. This should get you started.
Topic: Preparing to hunt...? (Read 1021 times)
